Throughout the past few weeks, academic advisors across Lehigh met with students to help them create schedules for the fall 2025 semester. Like each semester, this process has caused both satisfaction and concern from students about the advising they’re receiving.
Course registration for fall 2025 began on April 14. At Lehigh, undergraduate students are required to meet with their advisor in order to gain the registration code, prompting discussion about tentative classes and fulfilling requirements. Advisors typically handle several students, or advisees, and their schedules at a time.
Lee Bauknight, an English professor and a first-year advisor in the College of Arts and Sciences, said course registration can be a very busy time period.
He said he enjoys talking to students about their interests, but this part of the semester can be a “challenge with logistics” when scheduling many meetings.
“Students need to bring something to the table,” he said. “That always makes the job a little bit easier and can make things go a little bit faster.”
He also said the college randomizes advisors, and he received training to be able to help students of all majors within arts and sciences.
For first-year advising, he said the primary focus is credit distribution, which means ensuring students take all the classes they’re required to take.
Bauknight said he enjoys meeting students who have majors other than English, because he enjoys the exposure to different areas of study and perspectives at Lehigh.
Janani Vittal, ‘28, a student who’s planning to major in psychology, said she has found the randomized advisor method to be unhelpful.
Since her first-year advisor isn’t a member of the psychology department, she said they weren’t very knowledgeable about the specific curriculum she’s pursuing.
She also said she feels like her advisor and others in the College of Arts and Sciences mainly focus on students registering as full-time students rather than them taking appropriate classes for their intended majors and minors.
Vittal said she found more help from advisors in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Academic Advising Center.
“The benefits of the advising center is that you are working with professors who know a lot about most majors and can help you with any questions or concerns, unlike your actual academic advisor, who isn’t quite sure of what to do outside of majors related to their specific field,” she said.
She also said the center assigned her to an advisor within the department of psychology, which she found more helpful.
Madison Morita, ‘28, a mechanical engineering major, said her advisor from the engineering department has been helpful in outlining required courses for her.
While she has found the outline of courses to be thorough and helpful, she said she’s had issues getting in contact with her advisor to ensure she’s on the right track.
“My advisors have been helpful for my first two semesters here,” she said. “However, this semester, I’ve found it hard to contact them prior to fall 2025 registration.”
Jenna Lay, a professor of English who also works as an advisor, said advising is just as important as the other aspects of her job, but finding a balance has been challenging.
However, she said she sees advising and teaching as complementary work, because they both involve understanding students’ interests and helping them use Lehigh’s resources better.
“The work that we do in the classroom is actually really deeply connected to advising work,” Lay said.
She also said she finds being an advisor to be a very rewarding experience, because she spends a lot of time understanding different curriculums. It allows her to learn about what her colleagues are doing in their fields as well, which she said is fun.
Bella Ludovico, ‘28, an accounting major, said she found a great support system within the College of Business’ advising department, even though her own advisor is not a member of the accounting department.
She also said she believes the key to a student having a good advising experience is connecting with their advisor and communicating with them regularly.
“Building a relationship with your advisor and reaching out can only benefit you as a student,” Ludovico said.
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